Delivering the
Digital European Sky
EUROPEAN PARTNERSHIP
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© European Union
As the European Commission's Transport
Commissioner, it is my mission to develop
a European transport system that is safe,
reliable and affordable while becoming
ever more sustainable and efficient.
This means making full use of all the
opportunities offered by new technologies
and accelerated digitalisation.
Further modernising and digitising
Europe's air traffic management system
holds vast potential for driving aviation's
sustainable transition, delivering much-needed efficiency gains, and
supporting the safe and continued growth and diversification of air
travel, as new types of vehicles such as drones take to the sky. The
Covid-19 pandemic has also shown the importance of ensuring that
our ATM systems are sufficiently flexible and resilient to cope with
unexpected shocks.
Over the years, SESAR has become a synonym for innovation in
air traffic management. It has provided not just a vision, but also
contributed directly to turning that vision into reality. This has been
possible thanks to the commitment and collaboration of the entire
aviation value chain, which is enabled by the SESAR Joint Undertaking.
Building on the momentum of past years, I look forward to the SESAR
3 Joint Undertaking taking us yet another step forward, delivering
solutions in critical domains such as automation support, virtualisation
and trajectory-based operations. With this, Europe will have access
to a fully scalable and digitalised system able to handle all traffic
in the safest, most efficient and environmentally friendly way. This
is the type of investment that makes a real difference for citizens
and businesses, and that will help Europe to drive its leadership and
competitiveness globally.
Adina-Ioana Vălean
European Commissioner for Transport
Digital European Sky vision
Leverages the latest digital technologies
(“SESAR Solutions”) to increase the levels
of automation, cyber-secure data sharing
and connectivity in air traffic management,
as well as to enable the virtualisation of its
infrastructure and air traffic service provision
in all types of airspace, including for very-low
and high-altitude operations. In doing so, these
technologies enable the system to become more
scalable and agile, while building resilience
to disruptions, changes in traffic demand and
diversity of air vehicles. These attributes are all
key to future-proofing the system in a smart and
sustainable way.
Air transport has been a key driver for European
integration and economic prosperity. However,
an outdated aviation infrastructure means that
air traffic in Europe is hitting its limits both in
the air and on the ground, resulting in growing
delays and unnecessary emissions. Add to that
the multitude of new types of air vehicles, such
as delivery drones and air taxis, that will soon
be seeking access to the airspace, and the need
for action becomes clear and urgent.
While an energy transition is the only way
in the long term to ensure carbon neutral
air transport in the future, the aviation
infrastructure (air traffic management) can be
modernised at a more rapid pace and bring
environmental benefits in the shorter term.
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Why a SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking?
Why a SESAR 3
Joint Undertaking?
Climate and COVID
The combination of the climate and
COVID crises is accelerating a societal
shift towards more sustainable air
transport. The dual crisis also means
that collaboration and the pooling of
resources is more critical than ever,
since industry-wide challenges can
only be overcome together .
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Why a SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking?
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Advancing innovations applied today in
the digital economy will result in a radical
transformation of Europe’s aviation infrastructure,
making air transport smarter, more sustainable,
connected and accessible to all.
Transforming the infrastructure that supports
European aviation cannot be done by any
one organisation or country. It requires close
collaboration between all the stakeholders
that contribute to it, from the European and
national decision-makers that regulate it,
the organisations and staff that operate it, to
the academic and industry stakeholders that
research, design and manufacture it.
© DLR
A public-private partnership that is strongly
linked to policy and regulation through an
institutional partnership offers the best means
to coordinate all the stakeholders, pooling
the critical mass of resources and expertise
needed to deliver the Digital European Sky.
Bigger and bolder
The SESAR 3 JU builds on the work and
achievements of earlier SESAR research and
innovation programmes (SESAR 1 and SESAR
2020), but seeks to accelerate the market uptake
of innovative solutions through a portfolio of
demonstrators and a fast-track mechanism.
The new partnership is bigger and broader,
reflecting a growing aviation/air traffic
management industry and the diversity of
stakeholders active within it. The partnership is
a catalyst for speeding up the transition towards
a green, climate neutral and digital Europe, and
for making European industry more resilient and
competitive.
SESAR 3 JU in a snapshot
Mission
Accelerate through research and innovation the delivery of an inclusive, resilient and sustainable Digital
European Sky
Features
Policy/mission oriented – Embedding
the partnership within the EU’s policy
and regulatory framework ensures that
research is oriented towards the right
priorities, bringing real added value to
Europe’s economy and society.
Resilient – enabling flexible, scalable,
Accelerated – reducing time to market
through focused and agile research and
innovation, supporting faster transition
to deployment through an extended
innovation lifecycle.
Sustainable – establishing Europe as
the most efficient and environmentallyfriendly sky to fly in the world.
Inclusive – integrating and connecting all
Global - ensuring global interoperability
and promoting the competitiveness of
European industry.
types of air vehicle and user, including civil
and military, manned and unmanned.
safe and secure air traffic management
that can withstand disruptions and
enhance cost-efficiency in the aviation
system.
SESAR 3 JU in a snapshot
Budget
The SESAR 3 JU is co-funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe research and innovation
programme and industry as follows:
• Horizon Europe - EUR 600 million
• Eurocontrol – up to EUR 500 million (in-kind and financial contributions)
• Industry - EUR 500 million minimum (in-kind and financial contributions)
In addition, the Digital European Sky programme will benefit from funding for its demonstrators from the
Connecting Europe Facility (in coordination with CINEA) to the value of at least EUR 200 million.
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The SESAR 3 JU brings together the EU, Eurocontrol, and more than 50 organisations covering the entire
aviation value chain, from airports, airspace users of all categories, air navigation service providers, drone
operators and service providers, the manufacturing industry and scientific community.
The partnership also works closely with the regulatory and standardisation bodies, notably EASA and
EUROCAE, as well as key stakeholders such as professional staff organisations, the space and military
communities and global partners.
Regulatory
Bodies
EU States
ICAO and
Non-European
States and
Regions
Air
Navigation
Service
Providers
Standardisation
Bodies
Academia,
R&D
Community
Civ/Mil
Airspace
Users
Drone
Industry
SMEs and
Start-ups
Professional
Staff
Associations
Airports
Ground
Industry
Airborne
Industry
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SESAR 3 JU in a snapshot
The partnership
Governance
GOVERNING BOARD
Responsible for the strategic
orientation of the JU. Chaired
by the European Commission
(DG MOVE), it is composed of
founding members, associated
members, observers from
strategic partners.
STATES'
REPRESENTATIVE GROUP
Monitors the programme
progress of the JU, and in line
with the Horizon Europe
strategic planning and with
other relevant EU and member
states’ (national and regional)
funding instruments.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Advises the Governing Board
and ensures the scientific
excellence of the Digital
European Sky programme.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Governance
Responsible for the day-to-day
management of the JU in
accordance with the decisions
of the Governing Board.
SESAR 3 JU innovation pipeline
SESAR 3 JU innovation pipeline
The programme is designed as an innovation pipeline, made up of exploratory research, industrial research
and validation and Digital Sky Demonstrators, where ideas are transformed into tangible solutions. These are
underpinned by an innovation and market uptake fast-track to get things moving!
Calls related to the programme are launched within the framework of the EU’s Horizon Europe or Connecting
Europe Facility funding programmes. These are open to private and public ‘for-profit’ and ‘not-for-profit’
organisations, including large enterprises and SMEs, research and technology organisations (RTOs), universities,
associations, and any other type of legal entity interested in the SESAR 3 JU’s activities.
The SESAR 3 JU innovation pipeline is part of the broader SESAR project lifecycle covering definition, development
and deployment.
SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY
ATM MASTER PLAN
DIGITAL EUROPEAN SKY PROGRAMME
EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH
(TRL 0-2)
INDUSTRIAL
RESEARCH AND
VALIDATION
(TRL 3-6)
DIGITAL SKY
DEMONSTRATORS
(TRL 7-8)
DIGITAL EUROPEAN
SKY PROGRAMME
OUTCOMES

APPLICATIONORIENTED
RESEARCH
SRIA
Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
EXCELLENT
SCIENCE



DRAFT
September 2020
FAST-TRACK INNOVATION & UPTAKE
(TRL 2-7)
Horizon Europe funding
(directly managed by SESAR 3 JU)
Definition
Development
SESAR Solutions
Industrialised
products
Input to standards
and regulations
Accelerated market
uptake and
deployment
CEF funding
(in cooperation with CINEA)
Deployment
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Digital
European
Sky
research and
innovation portfolio
Digital European Sky research and innovation portfolio
To deliver the Digital European Sky, the SESAR 3 JU
has designed a portfolio of research and innovation
activities for delivering solutions across nine
flagships:
The future ATM system will deliver hyper connectivity between all stakeholders
(vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure) via high bandwidth, low latency
fixed and mobile networks. Highly automated systems with numerous actors will
interact with each other seamlessly, making the system scalable and even safer
than today.
Air-ground
integration and
autonomy
The progressive move towards autonomous flying enabled by self-piloting
technologies requires a closer integration between vehicle and infrastructure
capabilities so that the infrastructure can act as a digital twin of the aircraft.
Capacity-ondemand and
dynamic airspace
Technology will enable the dynamic reconfiguration and the activation of crossborder capacity-on-demand services to maintain smooth traffic services at busy
times.
U-space and
urban air
mobility
A digitally native traffic management system will ensure the safe and secure
integration of drones in the airspace especially in urban areas, taking into account
new and existing air vehicles and autonomous operations. One of the most
challenging use cases from U-space will be to enable urban air mobility, which is
expected to advance autonomous technologies in a number of areas.
Virtualisation
and cyber-secure
data sharing
Service provision will be decoupled from the physical infrastructure, enabling air
traffic and data service providers, irrespective of national borders, to plug in their
operations where needed in a secure manner.
Multimodality
and passenger
experience
Considering ATM to be an integrated part of an intermodal transport system
will make it possible to share data between modes and to collaborate better to
optimise the performance of both the overall transport system and the door-todoor journey.
Aviation
green deal
Europe should be the world’s most environmentally-friendly continent to fly. This
requires putting in place solutions to enable aircraft to fly their optimum fuelefficient 4D trajectory gate-to-gate, and integrating next generation aircraft that
will be cleaner and quieter.
Artificial
intelligence (AI)
for aviation
Tomorrow's aviation infrastructure will be more data-intensive. Thanks to the
application of machine learning, deep learning and big data analytics, we will be
able to design an ATM system that is smarter and safer by constantly analysing
and learning from the ATM environment.
Civil/Military
interoperability
and coordination
Dual-use technologies such as those for communications, navigation and
surveillance, and other solutions that allow real-time exchange of trajectory
information will improve the predictability of military operations and overall
network capacity.
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Digital European Sky research and innovation portfolio
Connected and
automated ATM
Benefits for European society and economy
Delivering the Digital European Sky will bring substantial value for every stakeholder in the aviation value chain; it
will also significantly benefit the European economy and society in general at a relatively small investment cost.
It is estimated that, by 2040, the Digital European Sky could amount to EUR 80 billion in annual recurring benefits
for Europe.
Benefits for European society and economy
Realising the benefits will largely depend on the ability of the sector to create the conditions to shorten the
innovation life cycle for infrastructure modernisation. If these conditions are not created, the transformation is
likely to be completed only by 2050 with negative implications for the environment, jobs and growth in Europe.
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Zero environmental waste: eliminates
environmental inefficiencies caused by
the aviation infrastructure, ensuring that
it offers solutions that will fully exploit the
potential offered by the next generation
aircraft for cleaner and quieter flight.
Fully scalable: creates the capacity
needed to handle traffic in the most
efficient way where and when capacity is
needed.
Cyber-resilient: delivers the intended
continuity of service despite adverse
events.
More productive: enables resources
(including data) to be shared across the
network.
Safer: relies on the talent of both humans
and new technologies to advance the level
of safety beyond current levels.
Enabling advanced mobility services:
offers smart and personalised mobility
options to passengers, allowing them to
travel seamlessly and efficiently across
modes of transport.
What does this mean for citizens?
What does this mean for citizens?
SAVED
28
million
CO2
Potential savings of 28 million CO2 tonnes per year, which is roughly equivalent
to the emissions produced by 3.2 million people or the population in the
metropolitan area of a city like Madrid.
Digital
opportunities
An aviation infrastructure that opens up digital opportunities for
people and business and enhances Europe's position as a world
leader in the digital economy.
SAVED
14.5
million
HOURS
Saving time for passengers at airports or in
the air in Europe, up to 14.5 million hours
annually that passengers will be able to spend
otherwise.
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Environment
friendly
Positions Europe as the most
environmentally-friendly sky to
fly in the world.
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Interested in getting involved?
Take part in open calls for tender
Follow our work on social media
Be part of the Digital European Sky!
Interested in getting involved?
Visit sesarju.eu for more information
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Manuscript completed in 2021
Neither SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking nor any person acting on behalf of the agency is responsible for the use that might be made of the following
information.
More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu)
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021
© SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, 2021
Reproduction of text is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged.
For any use or reproduction of photos, illustrations or artwork, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.
Print:
PDF:
ISBN 978-92-9216-176-7
ISBN 978-92-9216-177-4
doi:10.2829/20702
doi:10.2829/227556
MG-06-21-135-EN-C
MG-06-21-135-EN-N
For more information, visit sesarju.eu
www.sesarju.eu
Print:
PDF:
ISBN 978-92-9216-176-7
ISBN 978-92-9216-177-4
@SESAR_JU
doi:10.2829/20702
doi:10.2829/227556
SESAREuropanunion
MG-06-21-135-EN-C
MG-06-21-135-EN-N